L.E.T.
Artist
New Member
Posts โข 371
Likes โข 6
May 2007
|
help needed, by L.E.T. on Jul 1, 2008 17:23:19 GMT 1, From Seth Carmichael,
My Dear Friends, Family, Members of the Press and Everyone else in my address book,
Sorry for the mass email. Some of you have heard what is going on with Elisa (my wife) in Australia; her father was dying and she left the States in the middle of the immigration process to be by his side (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/father-dies-after-senseless-attack/2008/05/26/1211653939231.html), unfortunately due to the bureaucracy of our immigration system she is now stuck out of the country with no visa to return. Her father has passed away, but she could be stuck outside the US for six months to one year while we wait for all the different forms to be processed. I am reaching out one more time and sending even more emails with the hope that someone still might be able to help. All the folks we have been able to talk to have said it will take months to get her back into the US, even though we are married and her I-130 petition for a visa to be assigned has been approved (a big breakthrough we thought, but it turns out it is just the beginning of the process). We have talked to people at the consulate in Sydney, I've talked to my congressman's office, a friend of a friend wrote a letter to the US Ambassador to Australia, we have talked to many different immigration attorneys, but no one seems to be able to help. We are stuck in the system and right now I just want to get her home so that we can be together in this trying time and finish the immigration process here in the states. The emotional challenges of the whole situation are just overwhelming us.
Please forward this to anyone you know that might be able to help!
The complete back story is here:
To whom it may concern, My name is Seth Carmichael, I am a US citizen born in Washington DC. My wife, Elisa Victoria Gilsenan, is a British Citizen and permanent resident of Australia where her family has lived for the past ten years. She was going to college in the US and was in the United States on a student visa when we got married on August 28th of last year in Los Angeles where we have been living since she started school in 2005. This past February her father Brian Gilsenan was assaulted in Sydney while on his way home from an after work function (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/father-dies-after-senseless-attack/2008/05/26/1211653939231.html), he was seriously injured and spent the last few months in the hospital. He passed away on Saturday May 24th, 2008. Elisa and I went to see him immediately after the incident, when we retuned to the US she decided not to continue with school at this time which canceled her student visa so we started the immigration process by filing our I-130 petition. In May, Brian's health took a serious turn for the worse and Elisa needed to return to Sydney to be by his side. We called the US dept of homeland security and tried to request an exception to allow her to leave the States but they told us that all they could do is expedite her I-130. Obviously she still had to return to Australia and she did so. As I said Brian passed away on Saturday May 24th. I went to Australia on Sunday the 25th to help settle his affairs and help Elisa with her Visa situation but we had no luck reaching the consulate in Sydney or anyone else that could help us with her Visa. I came back to the states and have been trying to get her back since June 1st, we have had several conversations with various consulate officials and many immigration lawyers but there seems to be no process for helping with this kind of a situation. I am hoping we can get Elisa back into the states as fast as possible so we can continue the immigration process that we have started here and put this horrible tragedy behind us. It seems so simple a request. If you have any ideas that might be helpful please contact me. Thank you so much. Sincerely,
Seth Carmichael
From Seth Carmichael,
My Dear Friends, Family, Members of the Press and Everyone else in my address book,
Sorry for the mass email. Some of you have heard what is going on with Elisa (my wife) in Australia; her father was dying and she left the States in the middle of the immigration process to be by his side (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/father-dies-after-senseless-attack/2008/05/26/1211653939231.html), unfortunately due to the bureaucracy of our immigration system she is now stuck out of the country with no visa to return. Her father has passed away, but she could be stuck outside the US for six months to one year while we wait for all the different forms to be processed. I am reaching out one more time and sending even more emails with the hope that someone still might be able to help. All the folks we have been able to talk to have said it will take months to get her back into the US, even though we are married and her I-130 petition for a visa to be assigned has been approved (a big breakthrough we thought, but it turns out it is just the beginning of the process). We have talked to people at the consulate in Sydney, I've talked to my congressman's office, a friend of a friend wrote a letter to the US Ambassador to Australia, we have talked to many different immigration attorneys, but no one seems to be able to help. We are stuck in the system and right now I just want to get her home so that we can be together in this trying time and finish the immigration process here in the states. The emotional challenges of the whole situation are just overwhelming us.
Please forward this to anyone you know that might be able to help!
The complete back story is here:
To whom it may concern, My name is Seth Carmichael, I am a US citizen born in Washington DC. My wife, Elisa Victoria Gilsenan, is a British Citizen and permanent resident of Australia where her family has lived for the past ten years. She was going to college in the US and was in the United States on a student visa when we got married on August 28th of last year in Los Angeles where we have been living since she started school in 2005. This past February her father Brian Gilsenan was assaulted in Sydney while on his way home from an after work function (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/father-dies-after-senseless-attack/2008/05/26/1211653939231.html), he was seriously injured and spent the last few months in the hospital. He passed away on Saturday May 24th, 2008. Elisa and I went to see him immediately after the incident, when we retuned to the US she decided not to continue with school at this time which canceled her student visa so we started the immigration process by filing our I-130 petition. In May, Brian's health took a serious turn for the worse and Elisa needed to return to Sydney to be by his side. We called the US dept of homeland security and tried to request an exception to allow her to leave the States but they told us that all they could do is expedite her I-130. Obviously she still had to return to Australia and she did so. As I said Brian passed away on Saturday May 24th. I went to Australia on Sunday the 25th to help settle his affairs and help Elisa with her Visa situation but we had no luck reaching the consulate in Sydney or anyone else that could help us with her Visa. I came back to the states and have been trying to get her back since June 1st, we have had several conversations with various consulate officials and many immigration lawyers but there seems to be no process for helping with this kind of a situation. I am hoping we can get Elisa back into the states as fast as possible so we can continue the immigration process that we have started here and put this horrible tragedy behind us. It seems so simple a request. If you have any ideas that might be helpful please contact me. Thank you so much. Sincerely,
Seth Carmichael
|
|